Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

Vermont Digger‘s Lola Duffort posted an article earlier this week that described how Vermont’s state funded post secondary schools made it through 2020-21 but might not survive in 2021-22. Given the prediction that the decline in enrollments and/or on campus residence would cause serious revenue shortfalls, the State legislature managed to find $30,000,000 to help the colleges and technical schools remain open. But next year looks daunting, especially in light of this quote from the Bureau of Labor on the impact of job losses on the economy:

The drop in tax revenue has led to a total shortfall expected in the hundreds of billions of dollars—greater than 2019’s K-12 education budget for every state combined, or more than twice the amount spent that year on state roads and other transportation infrastructure

At this juncture State legislatures have generally not begun working on their 2021-22 budgets… but those who have, like NYS, are painting grim pictures for both K-12 and post-secondary schools. And if tax revenues are falling by the BILLIONS it is hard to imagine that Vermont will be able to find $30,000,000 to augment their funding for state colleges let alone sufficient funding for their public schools.

The solution to this is some kind of federal stimulus… and this will be one of many emergency issues that either President will need to face when the campaigning ends. Clearly a Biden victory would yield better results for schools given the Democrats willingness to effectively transfer billions of federal dollars to State coffers to help avoid the Draconian cuts needed to keep colleges afloat. We’ll know the victor soon… but the ultimate fate of the state funded colleges and schools will not be clear for months.